Pakistani Girl’s Heart Transplant Journey From Karachi to Chennai

Ayesha Rashid, A 19-year-old girl from Karachi, Pakistan, recently traveled all the way to Chennai, India, for a life-saving heart transplant. Ayesha was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at the age of 14. It’s a condition where the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, enlarges and can no longer pump blood effectively.

Initially, doctors in India tried to help her by implanting a Left Ventricle Assist Device (LVAD) in her heart, but it malfunctioned and caused an infection. To save her life, the medical team, led by Dr. KR Balakrishnan, had to find a donor heart. They found one from a 69-year-old brain-dead patient in Delhi and transported it to Chennai, where Ayesha underwent a successful heart transplant. After the surgery, Ayesha stayed under observation for a while, but now she has recovered and is ready to go home.

Her journey and recovery shows that Medical Treatment can bring people from different Countries together.  But this situation  also shows the lack of Resources and expertise in Pakistan for heart Transplants. Dr. Balakrishnan, who performed the surgery, explained that Pakistan lacks the equipment and expertise to manage complex heart conditions like Ayesha’s. As a result, she had to travel to India and rely on the doctors there for her life-saving treatment.


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Ayesha is not the first Pakistani to undergo a heart transplant in India. In 2014, a 46-year-old man named Amir also received a heart transplant in Chennai. Sadly, the first Pakistani to travel to Chennai for a heart transplant, Qari Zubair, did not survive due to complications.



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The main reasons Pakistan doesn’t perform heart transplants are the lack of deceased organ donors and the shortage of trained medical staff. Renowned liver transplant surgeon Dr. Faisal Saud Dar believes raising awareness about organ donation is very imported for Pakistan to Develop its Heart Transplant programs. Similarly, Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry, a cardiac surgeon, plans to start heart transplants in Pakistan but faces regulatory hurdles. There are so many challenges but medical experts are hopeful to create a Sustainable heart transplant program in Pakistan to help people like Ayesha and Amir.